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omonatheydidIn this series I want to go through groups that are gone, but not forgotten. I will go from debut till disbandment or [indefinite] hiatus, remembering the time we had together and look back on their highs and lows.
Spica
Spica was a South Korean girl group formed in 2012 under B2M Entertainment. The group consisted of Kim Boa, Park Sihyun, Park Narae, Yang Jiwon and Kim Bohyung. They officially disbanded on February 6, 2017.
Pre-debut
In 2007, Jiwon was set to debut in the group called Five Girls under Good Entertainment with G.NA, Yubin (Wonder Girls), UEE (After School), and Hyoseong (Secret). However they disbanded before debuting due to their agency's finance problems.
Shortly after, Jiwon joined Core Contents Media to become a member of the upcoming group T-ARA. However she left before their official debut in 2009 despite recording a song and music video with them.
Before debuting as an idol, Kim Boa was the vocal trainer for the boy group INFINITE. Also, she worked with the music production team Sweetune as a guide vocalist.
Park Narae first appeared as a contestant on the competition show Superstar K1, where she placed 8th.
2012: Debut, Doggedly, Russian Roulette and Lonely
In the beginning of 2012, B2M Entertainment announced that they would debut a girl group. Their name is a reference to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo.
On January 10, 2012, the group released their first digital single, "Doggedly" (독하게; also translated "Potently"). The music video sparked high interest, as their fellow label-mate Lee Hyori made an appearance.
On January 31, B2M Entertainment announced that the group would have their formal debut with a mini-album, titled "Russian Roulette". The full-length music video was released on February 7. Promotions for "Russian Roulette" began two days later on M! Countdown. The lyrics of the song were later modified in order to meet MBC's broadcasting standards. Russian Roulette is their most downloaded song to date with 611,004 downloads.
The group released a repackaged extended play entitled "Painkiller" on March 29, promoting the title track of the same name.
Spica released their second digital single "I'll be there" on the 19th of September.
Spica returned with their second EP titled "Lonely" on November 21, promoting the title track of the same name. They worked again with Sweetune, who also produced "Russian Roulette". The group first promoted the song on Music Bank on November 23, and held the "goodbye performance" on January 6 on Inkigayo. The album peaked at number 8 on Gaon's weekly album chart, selling 2,113 physical copies.
2013–2014: You Don't Love Me, US debut and Ghost
In the summer of 2013, Spica was the subject of OnStyle's TV show Lee Hyori X Unnie in which they sought and received guidance from the former Fin.K.L member, Lee Hyori. The show was shot following Lee Hyori's promotion period for Monochrome and culminated in the band's comeback in August.
On August 27, B2M Entertainment released a digital single, "Tonight", along with a music video which Lee Hyori and her husband, Lee Sangsun, collaborated and produced. Tonight's lyrics are written by Boa and Lee Hyori, and the original song was written by Dsign Music. On August 30 Spica had their comeback performance at Music Bank and made Lee Hyori cry for them. With this single, the group was able to reach the top 10 in the Gaon Music Chart for the week of August 25–31, ranking tenth overall and eighth on the Downloads Chart with 102,297 downloads.
Kim Bohyung made her solo debut on October 18, 2013 with her first digital single "Crazy Girl"
On January 26, 2014, Spica released "You Don't Love Me", a single musically and visually influenced by soul music of the 1960s. The song is a continuation of their relationship with the Lee Hyori and her production team, with the lyrics co-written by Kim Boa and Lee Hyori. Spica also released a song for the original soundtrack of the Korean drama A Witch's Love called "Witch's Diary."
In August, Spica partnered with Billboard to release their first English-language single.
The single, "I Did It", was produced by Oliver Goldstein, Cory Enemy and Daniel Merlot. The song and its music video were released August 6, and the group made their U.S. debut performance at KCON. Ryan Book of The Music Times said the song "takes a very Beyoncé attitude, expressing themes of female empowerment with pop music".
In September 2014, B2M Entertainment formed a subgroup of Spica named Spica.S (Spica Special). The subgroup is composed of four members: Park Sihyun, Park Narae, Yang Jiwon, and Kim Bohyung. On September 11, 2014, the subgroup release their debut single, "Give Your Love" produced by Brave Brothers.
On November 5, the entire group released the digital single "Ghost", produced by Sweetune. The music video was directed by Lee Sa-gang and featured scenes of the group during the 2014 Spring/Summer Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza.
2015–2017: Label change, Secret Time , First Japanese Showcase and Disbandment
In 2015, Member Park Sihyun and Cao Lu(former Fiestar member) collaborated on The Secret Weapon and performed Uhm Junghwa's Invitation.
In March 2015, Spica provide the song "Because of You" for the Super Daddy Yeol OST.
In December 2015, Spica signed an exclusive contract with CJ E&M. On March 25, Spica attended KCON Abu Dhabi along with other artists. In February 2016, it was reported that Spica would release a new mini-album in April 2016, but the album was delayed.
Member Bo-hyung became one of the contestants on JTBC singing competition show Girl Spirit, that aims to highlight the main vocalists of lesser-known girl groups. The first episode premiered on July 19, 2016. She eventually won the competition.
On August 25, 2016 Spica made their first comeback after a two-years hiatus with the release of a digital single titled "Secret Time".
Following that, they hold their first Japanese Showcase on 4th of December at the same year at The Tokyo Astro Hall. The Showcase was a success and they also did a cover of Utada Hikaru's "The Flavor of Life" specially for the showcase. They also performed all the five member's version of their Spica.S "Give Your Love"
On February 6, 2017, CJ E&M announced that the group had disbanded, and the members would be going their separate ways. On February 8, 2017, the group posted a letter on Instagram, confirming that they would return again in the future.
2018-Present:
* Jiwon made it into Uni.T, Uni.T was a South Korean girl group formed by the KBS survival show The Unit. The group consisted of nine members: Yang Ji-won, Woohee, Yoonjo, ZN, NC.A, Euijin, Yebin, Lee Hyun-joo and Lee Su-ji. Their debut extended play, Line, was released on May 18, 2018. On October 12, 2018, the group performed "I Mean" and "Begin with the End" for the last time on Music Bank and later the same day held their last fan meeting, after which they disbanded.
* Si Hyun signed with Arte Korea early 2019 to become an actress.
* Boa and Bohyung formed vocal duo Keembo, that debuted on 10th April 2020 with the song “Thank You, Anyway” under Ara-Line. They also recently promoted "Scandalous".
Miscellaneous:
Most people feel like there are a lot of reasons behind their disbandment and lack of success:
- No solid, stable fanbase
- Lack of good management/promotion
- Random sub-unit debut, a solo debut, US Debut and Japanese showcase without a proper follow-up
- Bad at variety (no personality, no presence)
- No Aegyo
- Not the strongest in terms of dancing
- Not having their own recognizable sound
- Taking too long between releases or just 1 digital song
- Being the "Lee Hyori"-group
- The songs are not strong enough to go back to from time to time and therefore there is no reason to purchase them
Sources:
Aminoapps, KProfiles, Reddit, ALL THE K-KPOP, MBC kpop, SPICA OFFICIAL, kpopGO/gwiyomisubs, 1theK, Jenirus, Spica Wikipedia, Uni.T Wikipedia, B2Ment, kpop.fandom, Generasia.
Previous:
Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel, Rainbow, 2NE1, Dalshabet, Stellar, Miss A, After School.
This one was also highly requested. Let me know what you think about this week? Do you miss Spica? What do you think was their main reason for lacking success as a group? What would you have done differently? Favorite song? Member? Concept? Would love to hear your opinion on this group. As always, thank you for stopping by ♥
Spica
Spica was a South Korean girl group formed in 2012 under B2M Entertainment. The group consisted of Kim Boa, Park Sihyun, Park Narae, Yang Jiwon and Kim Bohyung. They officially disbanded on February 6, 2017.
Pre-debut
In 2007, Jiwon was set to debut in the group called Five Girls under Good Entertainment with G.NA, Yubin (Wonder Girls), UEE (After School), and Hyoseong (Secret). However they disbanded before debuting due to their agency's finance problems.
Shortly after, Jiwon joined Core Contents Media to become a member of the upcoming group T-ARA. However she left before their official debut in 2009 despite recording a song and music video with them.
Before debuting as an idol, Kim Boa was the vocal trainer for the boy group INFINITE. Also, she worked with the music production team Sweetune as a guide vocalist.
Park Narae first appeared as a contestant on the competition show Superstar K1, where she placed 8th.
2012: Debut, Doggedly, Russian Roulette and Lonely
In the beginning of 2012, B2M Entertainment announced that they would debut a girl group. Their name is a reference to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo.
On January 10, 2012, the group released their first digital single, "Doggedly" (독하게; also translated "Potently"). The music video sparked high interest, as their fellow label-mate Lee Hyori made an appearance.
On January 31, B2M Entertainment announced that the group would have their formal debut with a mini-album, titled "Russian Roulette". The full-length music video was released on February 7. Promotions for "Russian Roulette" began two days later on M! Countdown. The lyrics of the song were later modified in order to meet MBC's broadcasting standards. Russian Roulette is their most downloaded song to date with 611,004 downloads.
The group released a repackaged extended play entitled "Painkiller" on March 29, promoting the title track of the same name.
Spica released their second digital single "I'll be there" on the 19th of September.
Spica returned with their second EP titled "Lonely" on November 21, promoting the title track of the same name. They worked again with Sweetune, who also produced "Russian Roulette". The group first promoted the song on Music Bank on November 23, and held the "goodbye performance" on January 6 on Inkigayo. The album peaked at number 8 on Gaon's weekly album chart, selling 2,113 physical copies.
2013–2014: You Don't Love Me, US debut and Ghost
In the summer of 2013, Spica was the subject of OnStyle's TV show Lee Hyori X Unnie in which they sought and received guidance from the former Fin.K.L member, Lee Hyori. The show was shot following Lee Hyori's promotion period for Monochrome and culminated in the band's comeback in August.
On August 27, B2M Entertainment released a digital single, "Tonight", along with a music video which Lee Hyori and her husband, Lee Sangsun, collaborated and produced. Tonight's lyrics are written by Boa and Lee Hyori, and the original song was written by Dsign Music. On August 30 Spica had their comeback performance at Music Bank and made Lee Hyori cry for them. With this single, the group was able to reach the top 10 in the Gaon Music Chart for the week of August 25–31, ranking tenth overall and eighth on the Downloads Chart with 102,297 downloads.
Kim Bohyung made her solo debut on October 18, 2013 with her first digital single "Crazy Girl"
On January 26, 2014, Spica released "You Don't Love Me", a single musically and visually influenced by soul music of the 1960s. The song is a continuation of their relationship with the Lee Hyori and her production team, with the lyrics co-written by Kim Boa and Lee Hyori. Spica also released a song for the original soundtrack of the Korean drama A Witch's Love called "Witch's Diary."
In August, Spica partnered with Billboard to release their first English-language single.
The single, "I Did It", was produced by Oliver Goldstein, Cory Enemy and Daniel Merlot. The song and its music video were released August 6, and the group made their U.S. debut performance at KCON. Ryan Book of The Music Times said the song "takes a very Beyoncé attitude, expressing themes of female empowerment with pop music".
In September 2014, B2M Entertainment formed a subgroup of Spica named Spica.S (Spica Special). The subgroup is composed of four members: Park Sihyun, Park Narae, Yang Jiwon, and Kim Bohyung. On September 11, 2014, the subgroup release their debut single, "Give Your Love" produced by Brave Brothers.
On November 5, the entire group released the digital single "Ghost", produced by Sweetune. The music video was directed by Lee Sa-gang and featured scenes of the group during the 2014 Spring/Summer Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza.
2015–2017: Label change, Secret Time , First Japanese Showcase and Disbandment
In 2015, Member Park Sihyun and Cao Lu(former Fiestar member) collaborated on The Secret Weapon and performed Uhm Junghwa's Invitation.
In March 2015, Spica provide the song "Because of You" for the Super Daddy Yeol OST.
In December 2015, Spica signed an exclusive contract with CJ E&M. On March 25, Spica attended KCON Abu Dhabi along with other artists. In February 2016, it was reported that Spica would release a new mini-album in April 2016, but the album was delayed.
Member Bo-hyung became one of the contestants on JTBC singing competition show Girl Spirit, that aims to highlight the main vocalists of lesser-known girl groups. The first episode premiered on July 19, 2016. She eventually won the competition.
On August 25, 2016 Spica made their first comeback after a two-years hiatus with the release of a digital single titled "Secret Time".
Following that, they hold their first Japanese Showcase on 4th of December at the same year at The Tokyo Astro Hall. The Showcase was a success and they also did a cover of Utada Hikaru's "The Flavor of Life" specially for the showcase. They also performed all the five member's version of their Spica.S "Give Your Love"
On February 6, 2017, CJ E&M announced that the group had disbanded, and the members would be going their separate ways. On February 8, 2017, the group posted a letter on Instagram, confirming that they would return again in the future.
2018-Present:
* Jiwon made it into Uni.T, Uni.T was a South Korean girl group formed by the KBS survival show The Unit. The group consisted of nine members: Yang Ji-won, Woohee, Yoonjo, ZN, NC.A, Euijin, Yebin, Lee Hyun-joo and Lee Su-ji. Their debut extended play, Line, was released on May 18, 2018. On October 12, 2018, the group performed "I Mean" and "Begin with the End" for the last time on Music Bank and later the same day held their last fan meeting, after which they disbanded.
* Si Hyun signed with Arte Korea early 2019 to become an actress.
* Boa and Bohyung formed vocal duo Keembo, that debuted on 10th April 2020 with the song “Thank You, Anyway” under Ara-Line. They also recently promoted "Scandalous".
Miscellaneous:
Most people feel like there are a lot of reasons behind their disbandment and lack of success:
- No solid, stable fanbase
- Lack of good management/promotion
- Random sub-unit debut, a solo debut, US Debut and Japanese showcase without a proper follow-up
- Bad at variety (no personality, no presence)
- No Aegyo
- Not the strongest in terms of dancing
- Not having their own recognizable sound
- Taking too long between releases or just 1 digital song
- Being the "Lee Hyori"-group
- The songs are not strong enough to go back to from time to time and therefore there is no reason to purchase them
Sources:
Aminoapps, KProfiles, Reddit, ALL THE K-KPOP, MBC kpop, SPICA OFFICIAL, kpopGO/gwiyomisubs, 1theK, Jenirus, Spica Wikipedia, Uni.T Wikipedia, B2Ment, kpop.fandom, Generasia.
Previous:
Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel, Rainbow, 2NE1, Dalshabet, Stellar, Miss A, After School.
This one was also highly requested. Let me know what you think about this week? Do you miss Spica? What do you think was their main reason for lacking success as a group? What would you have done differently? Favorite song? Member? Concept? Would love to hear your opinion on this group. As always, thank you for stopping by ♥
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no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 01:09 pm (UTC)I LOVE SPICA SO MUCH! Ghost remains their superior title track. Makes me weep every time. BoA's voice is so unique. I'm not really a fan of Bohyung's voice but I'm rooting for her!
Shame that they disbanded so early and being mismanaged. Kiss&Cry and SPICA deserved better.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 01:18 pm (UTC)Without them there'd be no Mamamoo and I'm so angry they didn't get their fair due
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 02:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 02:33 pm (UTC)l do agree with the fact that they didn’t really have a ‘concept’ so it made it hard to get into them because every release was vastly different, almost like they wanted to try everything to see what sticks. I kinda felt that way about CLC too but it seems like they’re finding their sound and image now.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 03:47 pm (UTC)I thought they were really funny in their “X-Unnie” show with Hyori, it makes me sad that I haven’t been able to find a subtitled version after I only watched it once when it was just released :(
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 05:25 pm (UTC)I'm glad that all the girls seem to be continuing on to pursue their own adventures. I hope Jiwon gets a solo debut, I think she'd do well after being in the industry so long. It would be nice to see something of Narae too.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 06:55 pm (UTC)lack of fanbase was definitely the biggest reason they never gained even moderate success internationally, let alone domestically.. the international Mercury fandom was so small that practically everybody knew everybody else. and we still only have one (1) legitimate fandom translator.. but I think they're one of those groups that people tend to hype post-disbandment, and it's too late to rue what could've been so now I'm just glad to see any appreciation for them on stan twt even if it's for clout or whatever.
some people think that their changing concepts made it hard to get into them but it was that versatility that I loved.. this is the bias talking but they were doing things conceptually and vocally that Korea just wasn't used to seeing I guess. who else could've pulled off You Don't Love Me? the vocals in Painkiller and Tonight?
those awful flesh-toned velvet dresses in Lonely???as much as they never officially disbanded and there's always that tiny hope that they'll reunite (as a vocal group a la BEG?? please), I think they're all pretty happy in their post-Spica lives now :) Boa and Bohyung doing music on their own terms, Narae living her artist life, Sihyun co-owning a fashion boutique, Jiwon doing musicals.. I'm just waiting for the first member to get married hehehe
ALSO CAN I JUST TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO YELL ABOUT HOW KIM BOA SAID THAT SHE HAS A BOYFRIEND??!?!! (https://twitter.com/hangboxes/status/1254434341670711296) this was the biggest shock of my fangirl life lmfaoooo
anyway this has been an essay.... thank you OP for dedicating a post to Spica!!! best unnies of my life 💜💜💜💜💜
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 06:57 pm (UTC)in a parallel universe Kiss&Cry would still be alive and thriving and I'd be their #1 stan :'(
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 07:06 pm (UTC)Spica should have been SO much bigger than they were! Justice.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 07:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 07:42 pm (UTC)i couldn't find much about narae and sihyun so this is fantastic to read! i hope they are very happy and successful!
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 08:00 pm (UTC)They were funny on varieties also
We do have now Keembo but Narae's voice was also one of my favs and I miss it...
no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-04 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-05 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-05 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-05 06:56 am (UTC)anyway, i'll add it to the post today! ;) thank you!
no subject
Date: 2020-07-05 09:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-05 09:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-08 02:19 pm (UTC)